Back at Bender Mountain

Thursday
I was talking yesterday about how being at home more this year has led us to discover some new places to hike, and Bender Mountain, on the west side of town, is another new discovery we made this year. We’ve now visited it several times, and I have blipped it previously, but it was quite different today with all the leaves gone, opening up the views over the Ohio river a bit more. It was a beautiful sunny day, and quite mild, reaching about 58 F. As we were about to leave on our hike, a guy came back to his car with his dog, but apart from him, we only saw one female runner on the trail until we were nearing the car again, when we came across a group of young people.
The first time we walked this trail, we were quite surprised to come across a small cemetery in the middle of the woods. I have included this in my collage, in the top right.
This cemetery, on the property of the Sisters of Charity, is the only known family graveyard in Delhi Township. It holds the marked headstones of two families, six belonging to the Lees, six belonging to the Darbys, and one none family member. Peter Lee claimed land as a volunteer settler in South Bend on March 12, 1790, making his family among the first to live in Delhi. His wife, Ruth (1765-1819), is the earliest burial in the Darby-Lee Cemetery. Lee was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Henry Darby came to Delhi in 1818 and built a large stone house, and then opened an inn on the River Road and was a friend of William Henry Harrison, America's ninth president. At one time he owned 300 acres, most of which now belong to the Sisters of Charity. Darby was rumored to have been involved with the Underground Railroad. He, his wife Margaret, and 4 of their children are buried in the cemetery. Their daughter Margaret Mayhew was the last known burial there in 1909.
We picked up some food on the way back for a late lunch cum early dinner, then I got a bit more work done before going out to bell practice, which will be our last one for a while, as we have recordings done for two services between now and January 3, and then we’re going to have a break until the Covid numbers begin to come down.